The Forest: An Elsabee and Johnny Tale
by Hatsoff343
Summary: Elsabee Merryweather. The bane of tiger-shifter John's existence. 2nd rank to his 1st in the Mercenary Guild of Haven City, she constantly makes him worry, getting herself into dangerous situations. In this one, she's lost in The Forest, a mini-city of a forest, and a place former "Holy White Tiger Son" John never wanted to return to, but in order to find her, he must face it.


_Bang, bang, bang!_ Shots whizzed by John as he rushed through The Forest, going as fast as his enormous paws could take him as he growled a low, incomprehensible curse.  
Hunters.  
One would think that the stubborn bastards would give up since the Magic Shift mutilated everything from the now faulty modern technology to the small city parks that morphed into grand forests-_with huge trees that looked like they were on steroids_-but no, those crazed Elven Hunters chose to brave this highly dangerous mini-jungle just to make top dollar in the black market for regenerated tiger parts; even more so for white tiger parts.  
_Great._  
The trees, twisted in their grand nature, stretched aimlessly towards the sky, allowing this dark and dampened soil but small patches of sunlight to bask in.  
Perfect for his cover.  
As more gunshots grazed his white fur, John dashed sideways into a nearby tree-tunnel made up of overgrown roots. The tunnels of The Forest were like highways for its residents; busy and full of drunks. Normally, if not for John, the tunnel would be teeming with all sort of creatures humans used to fear lived under their beds in pre-Shift times, but not one creature of The Forest could mistake the quiet and powerful reverberations from a "holy white tiger's" paws as they padded through. The whole place was empty.  
Being one of the rarest, if any, of the tiger-shifters left in the world, he and his family were seen as "holy beings of light" that ruled a good ¾'s of this massive forest area-_a good two-to-three days travel from Haven City_-and the humans were tricked into thinking that such powerful beings had supernatural healing properties for them from using their brains to become wiser and better-looking, to using their whiskers to cure a common cold. Their regeneration was also a major plus, since it meant a single white tiger-shifter could keep a black market dealer set on inventory for years at the tiger's mental expense.  
Thus Elven Hunters, the more advanced and highly expensive of poachers, are sent into The Forest to capture one on sight, since they've familiarized themselves with its natural structure. They are of the most elite, especially when it comes to their conniving schemes and traps for poaching, and they also…have a little grudge on the White Tiger family for kicking them out of The Forest for inspiring a inter-woods civil war amongst the Ogres and the Trolls.  
With that being said, why would John, who left his family years ago to be the leader of the Haven City Mercenary Guild, ever step foot into the Forest again?  
Because of Elsabee Merryweather.  
Elsabee was a half siren, half human woman who was second rank in the guild and forced to solve the ever-ongoing disputes between the sirens and humans since the Shift. She was John's best friend who constantly made him worry with her near-death experiences on her many merc jobs that she cheerfully took just to get away from the courtroom. Her many close-encounters were the exact reason why he made her wear a communicator, though she constantly complained about it.  
Boy, was a she a beauty. A delicate yet lethal beauty that made him go crazy whenever he picked up his communicator and heard her curse, out of breath. It _always_ made him worry, and this time was no different-in fact, it was _much_ worse.  
She was supposed to be on a job collecting some special herbs for Sarah, an experienced herbalist who was also a famous witch and Elsabee's best friend, but just as she phoned in to tell John she was going to head back she cursed, saying _"this isn't good"_ followed by what sounded like a rockslide before the signal died altogether. He immediately ran out of town, bursting into his massive beast form, picked up speed, and made the long trip to the Forest in about three hours time.  
Truthfully, Elsabee couldn't find a needle in a haystack unless she blew it up in her frustration, so John was skeptical over her taking the job in the first place, not to mention the fact that she hated the Forest with a burning passion, considering she always got lost and ended up making her own way out using her swords.  
"Where the hell'd he go?" one of the lean Elven Hunters shouted, running right past the branch where John stopped to lounge.  
"What makes you think I've the answer to that? I've been runnin' round here right next to you, you idiot," said the other, more robust one. He slowed down and carefully observed the surrounding area with his gun, "But I can't feel no vibrations anymore so the fat sucker must've tuckered himself out and dropped somewhere round here…"  
_Fat? Now that's just rude. I've got four more packs to the two on your stomach, hunter_, he huffed, resting his head on his paws as he observed the hunters below, his long tail swinging slowly. One could see the pale white of the Hunter's pointed ears stick out in contrast to their all-black get up, equipped with knives, guns, grenades, and yellow paralysis powder.  
"And what about Phil and the others? Weren't they supposed to be our backup in case we spotted one?" the leaner one looked around nervously. This must've been his first hunt then.  
Interesting.  
"Oh hush up!" the other whispered furiously, "We don't need backup ya wimp, and besides they should be right behi-"  
High-pitched screams broke through the quiet, attracting all three of their attention towards the southwest of their position. They rang for less than a mere second before they were silenced altogether.  
_…Elsabee…?_ Thinking out of a moment of shear panic that it was hers, John let out his mighty roar before leaping down onto the two distracted hunters before precedingly tearing them apart. Blood splattered his fur as severed limbs flew in multiple directions, leaving a trail of fresh blood, but he ignored it all as he rushed towards the direction of the sounds. The Hunters didn't even have a chance to form a scream.  
Once he reached the spot, he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him. To the very far right was a pile of jumbled bodies, three bloodied Elf heads with a hole through one of them, and in front of him, slightly to his left, stood an angry and thoroughly soaked Elsabee, wiping her smoking sword Mikey clean of the elven hunter's blood. John was so incredibly relived at that moment as he grabbed a pair of pants in a nearby bush (ones the fae generally kept as an offering for the tigers) and shifted into his human form that he almost forgot to be angry with her for making him worry and yet being completely unharmed.  
"…What's that in your hand?" he casually hooked his thumbs into the sweatpants' pockets.  
Her eyes grew wide as she spun around, growing wider as they took in his blood-splattered appearance…and the fact that he was only wearing pants. She relaxed after her eyes scanned the length of his body, most likely to check for potential wounds-_not like she'd find any since they'd all heal by the time he got there_-and smiled down at the ear in her hand.  
"You know how in pre-Shift days the humans used to say a rabbit's foot was lucky? They even carried it around with them on a chain. Well, why not do the same with an Elf's ear? It'll be a real conversation starter when I walk into the Elven Hunter's headquarters demanding compensation for being wrongly attacked by their men with no mention of a bounty on my head, you know?" She placed the ear in a small bag on her hip, next to her knives.  
He felt his anger then rise up, displaying his growing fangs as he opened his mouth to yell at her for-  
"I know," she sighed, placing the smoking Mikey back into its sheath by her hip, "but before you yell at me again you should know that a small search squad of Harpies were heading my way, so I had to take cover in the river before they decided to make me their play-thing for the day. Alana and Mira especially have a sick obsession with what they call 'fish out of water' where they take a siren and hang them just high enough over water so they feel the breeze but can't submerge themselves." She sneered in disgust at the thought before she shook her head, shaking some water off of her, "Once I lost them I decided to call you but the communicator was fried…again, so then I started heading home on foot. Grant it, I lost my way for a little bit until these idiots decided to ambush me. Guns blazing and no questions asked. When everything calmed down I saw that they were Elven Hunters…"  
_Of course_, John thought, _if someone's shooting at her she won't care about their identity until they're dead._ John shook his head before walking over to an overturned bag that emanated a strong scent of Nightshade leaves, hydrangea root, and silver onionskins.  
Picking it up, he handed the sac back over to her, "How did you find them?"  
She checked it to make sure she had the proper amounts, "Hmm? Ah. I knew it'd take forever if I just wandered around by myself, so I stopped in the Treetop Café and asked around for locations and directions."  
"…And they just _gave_ the info to you? For free? That's hard to believe…"  
She grinned, "Well you better believe it, Johnny-boy. After I showed them this pic they practically spilled their guts on the floor and begged me to step on them so they'd have good luck."  
"What phot-" John started, silenced by the photo she put in his face. It was a picture the two of them took last Christmas where Elsabee winked with her index finger tapping her one cheek lightly while John gave her other one an affectionate kiss. His lips twitched as he tried to suppress a smile at the image of the tough and powerful Elsabee flashing this once deemed "embarrassing" picture around a café, saying she was a white tiger's man squeeze. Oh, the hilarity!  
"Any chance you video taped that?"  
Standing on her tiptoes she gave him a swift kiss on the cheek that made his heart flutter, "Not on your life." She plucked it out of his hands, putting it back into her pocket.  
"You know, I half expected you to use your 'Awesomesauce' to blast your way out instead of aimlessly walking back. You hate the Forest," he gave a low chuckle, gently feathering some strands of her hair through his fingers.  
"…but it's your home…" she mumbled; turning her face away, she walked back over to the pile of Hunter weapons she complied. With his hearing ability, it was as if she said those words clearly, but, still, he wanted her to say them again.  
"What did you just say?"  
Biting her bottom lip in a surge of anger, she spun on her heel to get right in his face, "I didn't blow this place to hell because it's your home! Because somewhere in this overgrown backyard full of creepy crawlies you were raised! I may be indifferent to petty squabbles within the courtroom but I have never been insensitive… _Dang it_!" She rubbed her temples in an attempt to calm herself, but it was no use.  
John could still smell her frustration and desire.  
Smirking, he kissed her forehead and headed for the bushes, "See? A little honesty never hurt anyone. Now, how about we head home, hmm? I'll even stop by Sarah's so you can drop off the herbs." Returning the sweatpants to their regular place, he shifted into his beast form, sprouting white tiger fur and gaining over 200 lbs.  
"…Fine," Elsabee said, climbing onto his back and gripping his fur in her hands, already recovered from her blushing state, "but if you dare try anything funny, I'll litter your bed with catnip and stock your fridge with meow mix again. And just because I like you, I'll even throw in a big ball of yarn for you to play with."  
John growled low in this throat at her smug threat, kicking off of his hind legs into a warning leap to jostle her before he began his nice trot towards the shopping center where Sarah's shop was. There was a nice breeze blowing through as the leaves miles above them rustled gently. With Elsabee snuggled against his broad back the moment would have been perfect…if not for the pile of bloodied and dismantled Hunter bodies he had to pass.  
_I should have known_, he sighed to himself, _this kind of thing always happens when Elsabee gets lost._


End file.
